After I said all those nice things about Tim Daggett, he was one of those who jumped to the conclusion that the judging panels in the Olympic Finals were probably “inexperienced” since they were independent. How else would they make the “mistake” of ranking Nastia second?
Nastia Liukin, He Kexin (Photo credit: Getty Images)
I saw it as a knee jerk reaction of the American media to He Kexin from China getting the gold over Nastia Liukin from the USA in a tiebreaker. They both scored 16.725 with a start of 7.7.
A friend of mine was on the Bars judging panel, Avril Enslow from New Zealand. She’s been judging internationally since 1980 and has been category 1 expert for 16 years. This is her 4th Olympics. She’s judged 9 World Championships. Avril’s in the gym full time as Executive Officer and coach of one of the largest clubs in the Southern Hemisphere.
Anyone who knows Avril would agree that she’s one of the most experienced, expert and efficient judges in the World.
Nastia was close to the low bar in her Pak and was deducted for her kip pirouette which turned past handstand. Her dismount, though much improved, is still very deductable. He Kexin had minor deductions too, but fewer.
For the record, Avril had a B-score of 9.0 for Nastia. And 9.1 for He Kexin. She stands by those scores and by the final ranking in the tie break.
If you want to see the scores for each judge for yourself, click through to Gymnast.com.
And please leave a comment if you want to argue it the other way. As a “fan” I prefer Nastia’s routine since it has more variety and drama. But as a judge, watching repeatedly in slow motion, it’s difficult to disagree with the final ranking.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 